Joe's Pasta House - Rio Rancho — Restaurant in Rio Rancho

I am sad to say that the beloved Joe’s Pasta House is no longer the establishment we’ve all known to love. Apparently, Joe sold it earlier this year. It seems the new owners do not have the same passion to continue in his legacy.

Our family of four went to Joe’s Pasta House Tuesday, 11/7/23. I was really looking forward to the fresh made mozzarella wedges and the lemon pepper chicken pasta. My husband and 10 year old son were looking forward to the lunch specials and our 6 year old daughter was looking forward to the Ravi’s Alfredo pasta.

When we entered the place was quiet. Not the usual happy atmosphere. I’m sure if I hadn’t come straight from physical therapy I would have noticed earlier.

We were served the usual bread but the oil lacked flavor. When the beloved mozzarella wedges arrived we were disappointed to receive store bought sticks instead. We discussed what a shame it was for the change in quality but assumed it would be the only one. When our food arrived we realized the lower quality food extended to the entrées as well.

The usually vibrant lemon pepper chicken pasta was dull in color, had no flavor and the chicken was so overcooked it hurt my teeth. The usually spectacular pesto sauce was drenched in a weird food colored green oil. The usually decadent Alfredo sauce was congealed and lacked flavor. We also added shrimp and chicken to the lunch specials and the first shrimp we received was raw. The second was hidden in the sauce and was extremely hard to cut into. The only thing that was edible was the Parmesan chicken sandwich and fries.

We honestly should have complained but we, like so many people, have difficulty criticizing the food quality. We sat in silence and looked around and no one was enjoying their food. We ended up taking it all Togo after spending $80.

By the time we got home, we were all feeling iffy. I threw all the food in the trash and called the restaurant to let them know how we were feeling. Within the hour we were all feeling really sick. The worst of it was my husband, who ate the most so as not to waste our hard earned money.

My husband soon took a turn for the worst. He started to throw up and then the diarrhea came. He had to get in the shower on all fours because it was coming out of both ends. This lasted 4 hours until he was grey in color and exhausted. I had to call my in-laws over to watch the kids who were huddled around buckets of their own on the couch to take my husband to the ER.

By the time we got to the ER my husband was so dehydrated he couldn’t hold himself up or communicate. We were triaged immediately and an iv was put in. Unfortunately the ER had no beds available right away so they sent us to wait in the waiting room with the iv and intravenous nausea medication. By the time we left the ER it was 1am and he had received 2 bags of iv fluids, nausea medication and pain medication for his poor body and head.

We are all honestly so hurt and disappointed that our bodies had to go through all of this but most importantly we’re really upset at the cost of it all. $80 for food that went in the trash, an ER copay and whatever bills are sure to come from a 7 hour stay in the ER. Plus missing 3 days of work to recover. We are also upset at the new owners for putting Joe’s beloved name in the gutter.

The new owners seriously need to call Kitchen Nightmares or just sell the place to people who actually care. You couldn’t pay us enough to ever step foot in that...

I wish I could’ve given this place a better review. As a rio rancho native, I love that businesses have been able to thrive despite the challenges of covid but last nights dinner was so off putting, I had to take a minute to review.

I called in advance to see about making a reservation for my father’s birthday (per his request). Unfortunately, they do not take reservations for parties under 12, and the gentleman who answered the phone to share that info with me wasn’t very nice or helpful. I asked if he felt like we might run into trouble getting a table at 6pm on a Tuesday and he replied “it’s the service industry maam, we can’t predict these things”. Despite this response and condescending tone, we decided to come anyway and were seated almost immediately at 6pm. Our celebration was generally peaceful, but our waiter ruined our meal by the end. Food started off on a high note, but alcoholic beverages ordered with the couples special were forgotten until about 25 minutes into our time there, and when the check came…all hell broke loose.

Our waiter, in a playful game of who gets the bill reached over the table and gave the bill to my father (on his birthday). My husband and I both reached for it together to make sure he wasn’t stuck paying. It was as if I’d just cut off this man’s hand because the waiter then proceeded to lecture me in the most demeaning manner about why I was wrong for trying to make sure my dad isn’t get handed the bill and shouldn’t have attempted to grab the check from the waiter's hand. His tone, body language and overall attitude was so off putting, I thought he was joking at first. It caused a stir at the end of the meal I sat there feeling embarrassed, uncomfortable and angry that he felt he could tell the customer (paying almost $200 for dinner), how wrong I was for a friendly, normal game of who gets the bill. I genuinely feel I would’ve had a better experience at Olive Garden where the staff is polite, and people don’t feel the need to “teach you a lesson” before you leave. It was ironic I was being told how impolite I was being, when in fact I am the paying customer, he had no food or trays in his hand and somehow I’m the goof. I’m still really unsure how it ended up going downhill so fast and genuinely unsure how this person has managed to survive in the restaurant business with how grumpy and serious he seemed about something so trivial. I am a grown woman, and he spoke to me like I was a child. My husband wasn’t lectured about snatching the check either. Just me. Think twice before you go here. Unless you like uncle Joe making you feel small for wanting to pay for your father’s birthday dinner. Still reeling from how bizarre that entire situation was and will certainly request a different server if I ever choose...

Took 9 months to reply to a 20 year customer.

My daughter booked a dinner at Joes, a restaurant we have been patronizing and having parties at for 20 years, for her graduating partner and family.

We will never come back. The single meanest, rude experience I’ve had in a restaurant. The NEW OWNERS have destroyed this restaurant.

Hubs and I arrived on time for a party of 15 for a college grad dinner. This was my daughters reservation, we were guests. The grad presentation ran late add the drive from UNM for 15 people and they ran late. We politely let them know, 3 times giving them the opportunity to turn us away. We specifically asked and we were fine if they said it’s too late to serve you.

Instead they took our business but the manager unleashed a vile rude unprofessional attack on me and my husband (and we were guests who arrived on time). We had already apologized for the party’s tardiness and asked them THREE TIMES if they wanted to turn us away. They refused but treated us so poorly (in spite of HUGE TIPS for the staff), that we will never ever return or have a gathering here. Now the food. Sub par, lots of salt and sugar, not the same restaurant. no one finished their dish.

Miserable manager, she needs to fired immediately if they want to stay in business, however they have lost us forever. What an incredibly rude experience. DO NOT EAT AT JOES. It’s obvious to see business is dropping off rapidly.

I’ve also read through the reviews…Joes has a serious problem with their management, might be the owners so many complaints in the reviews say the same thing over and over about the staff and they do nothing as this business has rapidly declined.

Google should wipe out all the reviews since the ownership changed and only count those under the new owners. The owners unwillingness to address these issues is all you need to know AVOID JOES.

We had been going to Joes for 20 years. Since this awful abusive experience we have not returned. Nor have we ever heard from them regarding the hundreds of dollars we spent to be treated like crap.

Nadeem, your lack of response to a 20 year customer shows how little you care. We miss Chuck. Shame on you. Your response makes no sense…you just replied in Feb. this happened last May. You really don’t care about your customers. You even got my name...